


Hellfire

by Tempesta_Tricolor



Series: Defenders of the Universe: Marvel's Paladins [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Keith (Voltron)-centric, Marvel - Freeform, Marvel Universe, bad joke, its all keith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-04
Updated: 2018-06-04
Packaged: 2019-05-17 22:36:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14840492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tempesta_Tricolor/pseuds/Tempesta_Tricolor
Summary: "How had he gotten himself into this situation again? If you'd ask him now he probably wouldn't be able to answer, but that was mostly due to the fact that he was currently being held captive by a bunch of random thugs. Random thugs with advanced weaponry, but still thugs. How they even caught him is an absolute enigma."Marvel!AUKeith's (somewhat) origin as a Ghost Rider.





	Hellfire

**Author's Note:**

> Okay this is awful but it had to be done. My writing is 100% self-fulfilling. Probably won't refer to Keith as Ghost Rider, either.

How had he gotten himself into this situation again? If you'd ask him now he probably wouldn't be able to answer, but that was mostly due to the fact that he was currently being held captive by a bunch of random thugs. Random thugs with advanced weaponry, but still thugs. How they even caught him is an absolute enigma. 

"You shouldn't have been snoopin' around where you didn't belong, kid. Stealing intel from A.I.M ain't such a good idea." Okay, maybe they aren't so random. That didn't matter to Keith in least. Nothing matters more than the truth, and he'd be damned if this is what stops him. 

"Maybe A.I.M just needs better protection." His response is largely ignored, save for the knee that suddenly connects with his abdomen, causing an eruption of blood and saliva to escape his mouth. Great, internal bleeding is just what he needs at the moment. Breaking into a facility owned by A.I.M was an awful idea, yes, but they were the only other organization that had any idea as to what actually went down on the mission to Kerberos. So, just as any foolhardy would-be hero would, he got in, causing a huge ruckus, and got out. His dainty face mask did little to hide his identity, as the hired guns that had hired him were quick to track him down. That's he wound up in some random warehouse in the desert. 

"Look, I don't _need_ any of the information on their tech. I just need to know what happened on the Kerberos Mission. I know they hired you under the assumption that I was working for someone else, but that's not the case." His plea is cut short by a violent fit of coughs, each hacking sound followed by a blood. At this rate he'd bleed out before morning.

The leader at least seemed to be sorry for what they were doing. "Sorry kid, I'd love to help but.. we were already paid. Policy, you understand?" Keith only nods in agreement. He understands, but not really. The click of a hand gun was indication enough that his time there was up. Keith swallows hard once he's staring down the barrel of the handgun in question. Doesn't look like anything he's ever seen, but that doesn't matter. There was only one thing he'd needed to know, and this is what it cost him. He's ready to die. That information was all he needed, so it was worth it.

Wait. No. Not yet. He can't be killed yet. He hasn't found out what's happened to Shiro. He hadn't _seen_ that information. It can't end like this. 

_Yes, I agree. Vengeance hasn't been achieved. You will not die tonight, boy._

Keith hears the strange voice just before the deafening shot of the handgun is fired, but to his surprise, he isn't dead. Not even close. In fact, he feels more alive than he ever has. Curious. He chuckles, paying no mind to absence of pain the act should brought.

"Don't tell me the eggheads at A.I.M hired stormtroopers as hired guns." This time he wasn't kneed in the gut. A sudden change of heart maybe? 

"Yo, boss. What the _fuck_ is that?" Huh? What is what? These guys must be drugged up. Typical.

"That shit wasn't in the profile man." What the hell are they on about? Keith doesn't know whether to ask aloud or just wait for answers.

"I don't know who you are kid, but I know _what_ you are." The leader says, sounding quite fearful. "Had we known you were a Rider we wouldn't have agreed to this nonsense." He pauses, but not long enough for Keith to fully comprehend what the mad had just said.

"Tell you what kid, we turn our backs on this, act like it never happened, and you keep the info you need. Deal?"

Keith weighs out his options for a moment. Not all of these guys are assholes, and they're even allowing him to walk free with what he needs. Violence seems entirely unnecessary. He nods, eager to leave this place. "Deal. This never happened."

_No. You must exact vengeance._

Without a thought. Without a _warning,_ Keith's arm lashes out at the one of the men, completely forgoing the ropes that binded him to begin with. The heavily armored man struggled in his grasp to no avail as they made eye contact.

 _What the hell's happening,_ thought a bewildered and admittedly terrified Keith. 

" _Stare into my eyes, Aaron Vaime, and suffer the unjust pain you have inflicted upon others over your miserable existence. Stare and discover the penance you desperately deserve_." With those words, Aaron's eyes lit ablaze as he wailed in agony before all that remains is a charred corps. Fantastic, what else could possibly happen on this weird ass night. 

Keith, rather, Keith's fingers, now nothing but bone under his fingerless gloves, point to all but one of the men that seemed paralyzed with fear. 

" _Innocent."_ The now confused Keith looks at the odd-man-out. " _Guilty."_ The man, named Nick Modena, suffered a similar fate to Aaron's, only Nick had been completely turned to ash. 

Speaking up again, the leader makes to bargain with... whatever was in control of Keith's body at the moment. "Look, kid. Just take whatever you need. We don't wanna end up like those two." Whatever had taken over Keith's body at relented as he was now back in full control. He didn't so much as nod as he retrieved the files he'd originally stolen and made his way outdoors where several vehicles awaited him. Initially he had traveled on his motorcycle, but it was trashed once he was captured. Good thing he'd taken a liking to something that could only be described as the love child of a helicopter and a motorcycle.

"That'll work just fine." Keith vaults the barrier separating him from the vehicle with so much ease it takes him by surprise, having launched several meters into the air before landing on the concrete below. He growls in frustration. 

"I _really_ hope this is temporary," he says as he searches for any form of ignition on the vehicle. The ignition he got wasn't what he wanted. 

The vehicle spontaneously combusts under his skeletal touch, causing him to recoil in fear of being burned. He then looks at his hand and the vehicle from hell in front of him and it finally registers just what he is.

" _Oh_." He's a fucking Ghost Rider. " _Shit,_ this is not good." It really isn't. Being a rider isn't going to play in his favor for much of anything and reports of a rogue 'spirit of fuck you' might draw some unwanted attention. Scratch that, it will draw attention. All he can do is ride on, now. 

Dawn comes before Keith appears human again, flaming hoverbike just a plain hoverbike again. Starving, he goes to the nearest diner. The only diner, it seems. Once inside, he orders a coffee and whatever their breakfast special was. Pancakes maybe? He sat there in silence as he read through every physical file he had, his food having come and gone in the blink of an eye. It was when a particularly rowdy group of bikers arrived that things got less comfortable. 

"That your machine out front?" The guy's voice was already grating Keith's nerves, and he wasn't about to be taken out by a bunch of thugs again.

"And if it is?" he asks, standing to look the man in the eye. His buddies found the sight hilarious as the man stood nearly a foot taller than Keith. "Oh, looks like he doesn't like you Pete!" 

Honestly, they all seem annoying. Keith makes to leave, having gathered all of his belongings quite some time ago since he'd run out of files he could sort through at the table. Shoving his way through the masses of muscle that were supposedly men didn't work out the way he'd hoped it would.

"And where you think yer goin', boy?" He doesn't know if it's the fucker's grin or the fact that he called him _boy_ that sets Keith over the edge. Not a second later his fist connects with the biker's chin. That also proves to have worked out better in his head as he's sent crashing through the window of the diner. These guys are way too strong. That can be confirmed by the one guy that threw him to begin with.

"We were just askin' you a question, boy. Now we gotta kill ya." Straight to the point. 

"Can't say I agree with that, sorry. But I am willing to knock a few of you out. Take you down a peg or two." 

_All... guilty. They will meet their penance!_  


Keith actually agreed. Leaping to action, Keith's instantaneous transformation takes the entire group by surprise, and terror. 

"Now, I won't kill you, but this will hurt." As if to prove a point, Keith grabs hold of the nearest bike and tosses about five meters in the opposite direction. The next victim is a foolhardy younger man, still much older than Keith, that had the gall to try attacking him with a tire iron. Keith swats the tire iron and severs him in one move. The dumbass was completely disarmed and bleeding on the ground. Keith made sure to burn the wound before he bled out.

The remainder of the gang received their ass-kicking individually, but not a single one died and as long as they suffered at least a little, they didn't have to. He looked over the carnage before going about his day, but not before addressing who he assumed was their leader.

"Be sure to pay for the damages to the diner. And apologize! That wasn't very nice." 

Now, he really had to lay low. No risks. At least, none that aren't necessary. As long as it gives him the answers he needed, he will never stop.


End file.
